PRE-PRAYERING
In many parts of the Christian Community, Epiphany is not celebrated on this
day, but on January sixth. In other parts of the world it is celebrated on
this day. This Daily Reflection is an offering for the readings for the Second
Sunday after Christmas.
Yesterday we began living the days of the second half of the first decade
of the 21st century. The readings invite us to pray about true beginnings.
We have time to reflect backwards and forwards.
We are still in the Christmas prayer-spirit. God created this world billions
of time-years ago and then in a matter of time-seconds pitched a Tent of
Flesh to create time as a sacrament to be received each moment. We are invited
to pray with grateful amazement that we are here, just in time to worship
the Creator and be loved by the time-keeper, Who embraces us each second.
Every moment is the beginning of something ancient yet new. The New Year
will provide us with nothing new except our amazement.
REFLECTION
In our First Reading, the writer personifies the creative activity of God
who is distinct from God and declares its own praises. We hear this Wisdom
announce that it was in the presence of God and then joined in the creation
of the world as well as the saving accompaniment of the Jewish people during
the Exodus.
In the second half of the reading, Wisdom announces that God had commanded
that Wisdom should pitch a tent permanently in Israel establishing Zion and
Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God on earth. God had journeyed
with Israel and brought her to this Holy mountain and now would dwell with
Israel for ever.
The Gospel begins at the beginning when the Word was with God and the Word
was God. It is the Gospel for the Mass of Christmas during the Day, or the
third special Mass celebrating Christ’s birth. It is also the reading which
is known as “The Last Gospel” which in the Roman Latin Liturgy is read at
the conclusion of Mass. It is the Prologue or prelude to John’s presentation
of Jesus. There are hints about the major themes and events of Jesus’ life,
death and resurrection. John is laying out his basic plan
The big argument in those days was whether John the Baptist or Jesus was
the “True Light”. So John the Evangelist states very clearly that Jesus is
the Messiah and that the Baptist was a “witness” to the Light. He, the Baptist,
testifies in this Prologue to what the author intends to prove in the full
play of his Gospel; Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and dwelt among us.
The author Offers Jesus as the New Temple continuing the ageless-old love
which God has had for this world through the covenants with Israel.
Jesus as Word, Jesus as Light, Jesus as the Glory of God, these are major
themes which will present themselves all through the Gospel. For us it is
a beginning. During these next weeks and months, we too will watch the play
and be invited to believe and live, being made “children of God.” We will hear the Word, we will see the Light, we will watch His glory through His signs, His cross and His Resurrection.
We have been through the wonderful Christmas season and next Sunday we will
celebrate Jesus’ baptism. With the turning over of the calendar we have stopped
as well to recall the past months of time. We, like Jesus are heading out
into the unknown next months.
For me it is a space to contemplate the few moments each of us has to nod
our head, or bend the knee, or even just wink for one second in acknowledgement
that we are time-bound and bound to live as “Children of God.” Many
games are won in the last few seconds. That kind of excitement in life’s
game I would rather live in God’s eternal “now” - right now. I love
the lines early in John’s Prologue, “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” If we admit we were made, then we were made in Him and He is the “Light of Life”.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus is the main character who has come into the play
of life to brighten up our days. He is the Life of the party called
existence and we enjoy both the party and His light. In that light we come
to know who we are and how to act each scene. The play begins with the lines
from today’s Gospel. There are two final scenes or ending-chapters to John’s
Gospel which form a thematic conclusion. We who have come
to believe are the “books” containing the continuing play which from the
“beginning” through “time” will end in God’s coming again in “glory” and
all the players will enjoy an eternal cast party.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life
in his name.”
John 20: 30-31
“There are many other things which Jesus did; were every one of
them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the
books that would be written.”
John 21: 25